Dale Hietala

Lilah Crowe2019-11-26T12:25:06-06:00

Name: Dale Hietala
Location of Birth: Minnesota
Date of Birth: 1963
Date of Death:
Parents: Harvey and Esther Hietala
High School and Class: 1981 - Grand Rapids Senior High School, Grand Rapids, Minnesota
College: 1986 - University of Illinois - Urbana/Champaign
Highest Rank: CAPT (Captain)
Branch: Air Force
Other Branch:
Date Sworn In: December 23, 1985
Place Sworn In: Champaign, Illinois
Date of Discharge: August 31, 1996
Place of Discharge: Colorado Springs, Colorado

Units and Locations:

Start Date	End Date	Unit(s) and Location(s) Served
May, 1986	August, 1991	3rd Space Operations Squadron, Falcon Air Force Station, Colorado
August, 1991	July, 1994	Space Defense Operations Center, Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station, Colorado
July, 1994	July, 1995	13th Space Warning Squadron, Clear Air Force Station, Alaska
July, 1995	August, 1996	Headquarters Air Force Space Command, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado

Military Highlights:
The first five years of my career were spent in satellite command and control--keeping communication satellites in their proper orbit to provide strategic and tactical communications systems functional across the globe. Then it was off to Cheyenne Mountain--a facility built deep in the rock near Colorado Springs, Colorado. This facility was built in the 1960's, about 1/2 mile into the granite. Buildings were kept on giant springs and could be protected by large blast doors, approximately 3 feet thick, to insulate against an indirect nuclear blast. My final operational assignment was at Clear Air Force Station, Alaska during one of the last years the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS) radar was operational. This site provides ballistic missile warning for the North American continent for North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), whose command center was in Cheyenne Mountain.

Civilian Life:
I have been an engineer for various defense contract firms, primarily working with satellite command and control systems.